Archive for the ‘Food and Drink’ Category
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19
Jan
2015
A Good Old-Fashioned Girl (a guest article by Josephine McCulley)
Josephine McCulley is a freelance writer for Associated Content and other sites. Currently living on a couch in Arlington, Washington, she is also a certified personal trainer, a former communication professional in the luxury travel industry, and an extremely grateful survivor of Eric Nelson’s brilliant Latin classes at Pacific Lutheran University. (Editor’s note: I did not put her up to that, and I have to acknowledge that it was Susan, not me, who taught her to write so well.)
Enjoy it with a good old fashioned Superbowl game.
The Old-Fashioned
The name says it all, and you would be hard-pressed to find a more classic cocktail than the Old Fashioned. You’ll often find the drink described as the very first real cocktail on drink menus. And unlike the very first computer, the first car, or the first appearance of Superman, this first is not only just as enjoyable as it was back then, it’s just as lovely for every day perusal. Or, you know, every Friday night if you’re not quite so libatious.
19
Jan
2015
Bubble, Bubble…
Few things in life are pure symbols of celebration like champagne. Crisp, sparkling white wine almost tastes of victory, luxury, and parties. But champagne isn’t just for wedding toasts and mimosas on vacation.
You can easily create your own champagne cocktails; start with your favorite liqueurs and go from there, add fruit or spirits, go wild. Orange juice or peach nectar are just the beginning. Sparkling wine makes for some pretty exceptional cocktails, and I’m more than thrilled to share a few of my favorite examples. Take the classic French 75 for instance…
French 75
2 oz gin
1 tsp powdered sugar (or 1/2 oz simple syrup if you have it)
1 oz fresh lemon juice
4-5 oz champagne or sparkling white wine
Shake gin, sugar, & lemon juice over ice & strain into a champagne flute or collins glass. Fill your glass the rest of the way with champagne.
These bubbles aren't just for weddings and new year's eve.
This is one of my all-time favorite cocktails. Gin and champagne isn’t an intuitive combination, but the flavors compliment each other so well. The punch all that alcohol packs isn’t too shabby either. This cocktail is incredibly crisp and refreshing, the perfect finish to a light meal on a hot summers day. It’s flavorful, but still very light, not at all overwhelming. This is a great drink for anyone who often finds cocktails too sweet for their taste. Read the rest of this entry »
19
Jan
2015
The (Not-So) Bitter Truth
There’s one thing bothering me about my usual watering hole these days. Well, two, the first being that they don’t have a good cognac on hand. But the more shocking problem being that it’s a bar without bitters. Really? This boggles my mind. Next time, I’m smuggling a bottle of bitters in my Nine West boots. And so starts my less-than-illustrious career as a bootlegger…
The classic Angostura Bitters
For most of us, we don’t even have a clue what bitters is, exactly, even if we do order a drink that uses them. Really, bitters just conjures up memories of stopping at the grocery store for some tonic water or grenadine and seeing that odd little bottle that we can’t fathom paying $9 for. But bitters are indispensable. If you don’t have them in your liquor cabinet you’re missing out.
In general, bitters is alcohol strongly infused with herbs, spices, and usually some sort of fruit. Agnostura Bitters, the bottle with the too-big label you see at the grocery story, is the most common, the standard really. Bitters were originally developed for medicinal use as something to calm upset stomachs, a usethat most everyone seems to have forgotten about now. But I assure you, it works. When I feel nauseous after a run, like when I sat down to write this article, I throw some bitters in with 7-Up. Now I’m ready for pizza…
The very first cocktails, the Old Fashioned specifically (you can read about the Old Fashioned (you can read about the Old Fashioned here), relied on bitters for their flavor. Citrus fruit and juices weren’t readily available, and generally neither were sodas. But bitters kept well, and people generally had some on hand for upset stomachs. And lo, the cocktail was born; bitters, sugar, water, booze. And it was delicious.